April 2013
Volume 13, Number 2
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Elder abuse can take many forms: How to see it, stop it and prevent it By Gina Mazza For Beaver County Senior News Every other Friday morning, Mary, 85, ran errands with her caregiver, Sandra. Even though Mary’s osteoporosis and Parkinson’s disease prevent her from driving, she has a sharp mind and was grateful for Sandra’s help with her daily affairs. Mary would have never imagined that Sandra would take advantage of her. As the two women did their shopping and banking
together, even the bank teller didn’t suspect a problem when Sandra started writing out two checks to “cash”— one for Mary and one for herself—both from Mary’s account. After all, Mary was right there in the car, and the teller knew that Sandra was caring for her. Mary didn’t suspect any wrongdoing either, as Sandra had simply told her that she was doing her own banking at the same time. Eventually, Sandra’s daughter caught onto what was happening when she
looked at her mother’s bank statements. Sandra was arrested and confessed to stealing $2,800 from Mary.
Keen-Age welcomes back former editor Angela Gentile, read more on page 11.
As disheartening as it is to think that these things happen, they do. As older adults continue to age and become more vulnerable physically and cognitively, they can become more susceptible to abuse, neglect and exploitation. And as Mary’s story demonstrates, the signs
Continued on page 3
Read about Theresa FerrisDukovich, Esq. on page 18.